Thermionic Culture Vulture
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The original boutique, all-valve, studio distortion tool — exclusively for UAD-2 and Apollo.
A singular, enigmatic piece of all-valve boutique hardware, the Thermionic Culture Vulture is a distortion hedonist's malleable plaything. For more than 15 years, this British-made, studio-grade, high-gain valve unit has provided a palette of vivid distortion colors — from sublime thickening textures to demonic growls of perverted mayhem — on countless genre-spanning recordings.
Now — thanks to an intense multi-year engineering effort from Universal Audio — you can track and mix with the only authentic circuit emulation of this one-of-a-kind valve distortion tool with the Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in for UAD-2 hardware and Apollo interfaces.Get a full palette of high-gain, studio-grade, dual-stage valve distortion
Dial-in rich harmonic content with three diverse valve topologies — including UA’s first ever pentode tube emulation
Record through the Culture Vulture in real time with Apollo Twin, Apollo DUO, Apollo QUAD, or Apollo 16
Subtly color or utterly destroy existing tracks, buses, or a full mix with the Culture Vulture using any UAD-2 hardware
Get the same sound and controls as the legendary analog hardware with added features like parallel Dry/Wet processing
Mix with artist presets from Tony Maserati, Eric "ET" Thorngren, Rik Simpson, Chris Coady, and more
5-Min UAD Tip
In this video, learn how to easily create midrange warmth on acoustic guitars as well as destroy live drums with parallel processing using the Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in.
Take a Listen
Dominate your Sources with Three Valve Topologies
The Culture Vulture plug-in for UAD-2 and Apollo interfaces faithfully emulates all of the original hardware’s sonic proclivities and diabolical details, including its three distinct all-valve circuit topologies.
Authentic, All-Valve Circuit
The Thermionic Culture Vulture plug-in captures the natural, “in-between-the transients” dynamic bias response inherent in the hardware's valve-driven circuit — as well as its powerful stereo control set.Use the Drive knobs and Overdrive switches to control the amount of input signal hitting the 6AS6 valves — with up to 20 dB of gain on tap! The Bias controls adjust the incoming voltage, providing dramatic differences in response, from clean to distorted, voltage-starved chatter, and gating effects. Use the Filter controls (9 kHz and 6 kHz) to fine-tune your distortion flavors even further.
Expanded Feature Set for Valve-Soaked Mixes
The Culture Vulture plug-in offers two key features not found on the original hardware. Use the Mix control for parallel processing on any bus, adding gentle valve presence, punch, and grit to drums, vocals, or an entire mix. And with the Link function, you’re afforded a perfectly matched stereo image to save time and preserve balances. While the Thermionic Culture Vulture is not a compressor per se, it can act as sonic “glue” on a bus or an entire mix, deftly teasing out tantalizing sizzle and detail with authentic valve heat.
“I use the Thermionic Vulture hardware on almost every mix, so having a UAD software version was a dream come true. I never thought anyone would be able to mimic the sonic variations of the hardware. I'm obsessed.”
– Tony Maserati (Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Jason Mraz)
“I’m a big fan of Thermionic Culture and own many pieces of theirs to help remove the generic digital DAW sound. I’ll now be using the UAD Culture Vulture plug-in to perform the same function. In short, I love it.”
– Rik Simpson (Coldplay, Portishead, Jay Z)
“The UAD Culture Vulture just became my new secret go-to weapon. The first time I used it to beef up the kick and snare on a Hip Hop track, I knew there was no going back.”
– Ivan Barias (Musiq Soulchild, Jill Scott, Estelle)
“The ‘mighty’ Culture Vulture is one of the best sonic destroyers of all time, and it’s equally useful for bringing life and detail to dull sounds. Now with the UAD plug-in, I can use several instances per song.”
– Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beach House, Future Islands)
“The UAD Culture Vulture can do all the crazy, blown out sh*t as the hardware. In fact, it’s even better at subtle gaining and beefing up, without getting too shredded. It’s a new/old favorite.”
– Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Jónsi)
“I love the UAD Culture Vulture on drums, bass, vocals, and guitars. I also found the presets very useful for hearing the versatility and tones this plug‑in is capable of.”
– Jeff Balding (Taylor Swift, The Eagles, Florida Georgia Line)Customer Reviews
K. Gajadhar
February 10, 2024
Hot Sauce
Spices up tracks with different flavours. Easy, Reccomend to anyone.
Read MoreL. Leonard
January 31, 2024
Golden saturation unit
Nowadays these're bunch of saturation plugins out there,but trust me,This is not one of them.Tube coloration of this hardware is outstanding among my arsenal. Love it.
Read MoreJ. Janev
January 14, 2024
My favorite drive ever!
I have tried so many drive plugins over the years and none can sound like the Thermionic Culture Vulture! This is the biggest sounding drive ever! I use it a lot for mastering -...
Read MoreC. Panetta
January 8, 2024
I hope this is next up for natives, no better saturator
I hope this bad boy, with the cooper time delay and varimu by manley are next in line for a native release. this guy does stuff other plugins just can. The variations of distortion flavours...
Read MoreC. Panetta
January 8, 2024
I hope this is next up for natives, no better saturator
I hope this bad boy, with the cooper time delay and varimu by manley are next in line for a native release. this guy does stuff other plugins just can. The variations of distortion flavours...
Read MoreF. Hasan
December 26, 2023
My go to saturation!
i use it on every mix and it's sound awsome and also really great on vocal !
Read More -
Key Features
Exclusively licensed by Thermionic Culture Ltd., modeled by Universal Audio
Studio-grade, high-gain valve distortion from a subtle warmth to utterly destroyed
Models entire Class A circuit, including the Pentode-driven input amplifier with bias control, plus valve output amplifier
Three modes of operation including Triode and Pentode modes 1 and 2
Overdrive, Output filtering, plus plugin-only Dry/Wet parallel Mix and Controls linking
Requires a UAD DSP Accelerator Card or Apollo Interface available from authorized dealers worldwide
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Customer Reviews
Thermionic Culture Vulture
K. Gajadhar
Hot Sauce
Spices up tracks with different flavours. Easy, Reccomend to anyone.
L. Leonard
Golden saturation unit
Nowadays these're bunch of saturation plugins out there,but trust me,This is not one of them.Tube coloration of this hardware is outstanding among my arsenal. Love it.
J. Janev
My favorite drive ever!
I have tried so many drive plugins over the years and none can sound like the Thermionic Culture Vulture! This is the biggest sounding drive ever! I use it a lot for mastering - "T" distortion type and mix only at 5 - 10%. Gives a lot of density and some magic to the sound! I use it a lot on Drums Bus as well. And with more extreme settings, very interesting Lo-Fi and distortion effects can be achieved. Magic machine!
C. Panetta
I hope this is next up for natives, no better saturator
I hope this bad boy, with the cooper time delay and varimu by manley are next in line for a native release. this guy does stuff other plugins just can. The variations of distortion flavours and tones you can get out of it is unparalleled, running it in parallel is fantastic too.
C. Panetta
I hope this is next up for natives, no better saturator
I hope this bad boy, with the cooper time delay and varimu by manley are next in line for a native release. this guy does stuff other plugins just can. The variations of distortion flavours and tones you can get out of it is unparalleled, running it in parallel is fantastic too.
F. Hasan
My go to saturation!
i use it on every mix and it's sound awsome and also really great on vocal !
J. Newman
I thought it was a redundant purchase, no it’s very special.
I own most of the other color boxes out there and this one is easy and clear to use. It sounds great on vocal, bass, guitar solos and well anything like they show with the mad scientist video on the page. Overall I was impressed and used it on vocals right away. Great job UAD!
S. Van Vooren
bought but didn't receive
I bought this plugin a few weeks ago but it is nowhere to be seen in my UA connect, Ilok or DAW. Started up 4 support tickets but the only thing I get is emails that say my ticket is resolved. unbelievable.
C. Oppold
There’s that sound I was looking for.
Couldn’t be happier with this plug-in. Adds Depth, Grit, and Character to drums, guitars, and bass. Brings nice presence out when utilizing the gain knob. Rock and Roll.
L. Kagenaar
Drive!
This is a must have if you want your tracks filthy. It goes to Extremes with a simple twist of a knob.
T. Bernsdorf
Desert Island Plugin
I use this on every mix. One of my favorite saturation plugins to get any instrument to poke through in a mix.
C. Hallowes
Strengthens unbelievably
I don't know how it does it but this thing is amazing at strengthening weak sounding instruments. Just try it on an acoustic guitar and you can honestly make it rock
M. Verblakt
Amazing
Great to glue mixes together.
J. Russell
Great tool!!
I was in a session and we needed some character on a guitar buss. This was perfect!! Big and forward! Didn’t sound and emulation at all….
c. rosario
My go to for drums
Love it
I. Bandera
Mi piace!
Le saturazioni sono molto diverse fra loro.
Questo lo rende versatile se pur con un suo carattere abbastanza preciso. Lo si riconosce facilmente ma questo è il bello.
Ottimo su molte fonti diverse. Batterie, chitarre, bassi e synth non suoneranno più come prima. ConsigliatoJ. Brännström
Pretty, pretty good.
Best for intermediate levels of distortion. Doesn’t really nail the irregularities of hardware when pushing things hard.
P. Diaz
Color for a good deal!
Heavy on DSP, tiny UI but the sound is good. Hope UA updates their UI’s for the amount they charge.
H. Zsombor
Dope
Dope sounding plugin, lot of clear warmth
B. Sand
Not a great version
Other emulations offer more features with a modern gui. This is outdated.
